Go bananas-guide to Sweden’s four season

Ambling around in the nature in Sweden is one of the easiest and best things what can happen to all the living entities around. Especially, because half way up to North there isn’t much else.

I’d love to use the world ‘wilderness’ instead of nature, but since the civilization is quite close here, I’ll spare it for the Fjällen – the mountains of North-Sweden at the border, where I’m actually goint to next August. Anyhow, living next to semi-wilderness is awesome enough.

Because:

• you can see all the tiny details how they change day by day. And to be honest there is much more to examine than for example fassades in a random city. They don’t change that much even during a decade – if it’s well done and won’t smash.
• at the beginning of the year, it’s cold. It can vary from ‘ok cold’ to ‘f***** cold’, so probably you will just chase for an occasion to have a fika inside, since the nice christmas decorations are already over by the 13th of January
• during spring you spot out how those vibrant green new plants burst out from the soil and how all the trees and bushes start to burgeon. The days will be longer and longer so you can enjoy more the newborn colors.

• I can’t hide, that you’ll be expert in swearing since you’ll wear your winter coat until the middle of May at least and you will suffer from heavy hail cca. 4 times per week. So no need for hungarian sprinkling tradition, the nature will take care of it, so you won’t dry out. During spring it’s quite spectacular when at one end of a street the sun goes down and on the other end there is hail.

• the air gets warmer and warmer (And the busdriver turns ON the aircondotion when it reaches the 18 degrees outside. Bastards. )
• you will learn how to enjoy the short summer and to swim in a lake what is never warmer than 20 degrees. Hejj, it’s Scandinavia, don’t expect 35 degrees, but you can still use your summer clothes – on some days. Ohh, and don’t forget to dance around a pole at midsommar preferably quite drunken!

• you start to understand and appreciate the access to the forest and its treasures. Nothing will be more precious for you anymore than those berries and mushrooms you spent hours to pick up. These forests give you 100% bio food, gratis. Btw, did you know that there are cca. 1500 types of apples here?

• surprisingly autumn was not as shitty in this year as I’ve expected, but more warm, sunny and dry. But never rely on it: you can have snowy mornings and dry evenings at the same day. Due to the warm lights and colors what makes everything cosy and welcoming, you’ll really start to believe in goblins and elves (in swedish: tomte) and that they can pop up from behind a tree or from under a stone.

• when wintertime arrives (yes, it’s dark again), you’re already super enchanted even just staring at the frozen ground as it would be covered with shimmering diamont powder. No wonder then that after jackdows, magpies have the second biggest population here.
• and when it’s time for Christmas (swedish: jul), it seems completely normal for you to put out porridge in front of your door to feed all those tomtes, who were with you during the whole amazing year, even though you’ve never seen them. They have.